Before I get started on an update on the second race I thought now would be a good time to update on some changes to the car since the rebuild was completed a few months ago.

After the first race and having a problem with the engine not coming up on the t-brake I knew something had to be done. The 7531 MSD launch retard takes timing out when the brake it applied. This creates several issues which I did not care for. As soon as that race was over I ordered a new MSD 7720/7730 Power Grid and sold the 7531. The grid has a much improved launch retard feature. This alone has helped with traction consistency (on hot tracks) by a measurable amount in testing two weeks ago.

Now before Satudays race I removed the Hoosier drag radials with only 12 passes to give the new Mickey Thompson 4754X Pro drag radial. The Hoosiers were working great, but given all the hype, I just had to try the Mickey's. I was quite impressed with how this new tire performed under extreme conditions which I will get into further going over the race.

Ok, July 7th was the next Cecil Street Car Shootout race for the Malibu in the Ultra Street class.

First qualifier was at 4:00. Air temps at 101.9 degrees, density altitude was 4081'. Needless to say I was quite concerned if I could get down this hot track (track temp nearing 150 degrees). Some bald spots on the line which we staged off to the side to avoid. Launched and dead hooked to my surprise, but 20' out there was a bald spot I drove into and it started to spin. Controlled spin, but slowly the tires kicked out to the side forcing me to give it a quick pedal. Not horrible, but ran a 5.72 with a surprising 1..34 60' with a TON of timing out on the launch retard.

Second qualifier I ran the same tuneup but did loosen the front travel from 3" to 4". Hooked up fine and ran a 5.49 with a 1.29 60' in 95 deg temp and 3850' D/A air. This would qualify me 3rd out of 14 cars.

First round I faced a nitrous car, near dead on R/T's and I barely edged him out with a 5.40 to his 5.42, 1.255 60' in my lane. D/A still at 3800'.

Second round another nitrous Mustang. Got the win with a 5.368, 1.244 60'. D/A at 3000'

Semi final round I faced a good friend with his 632ci Monte Carlo. I knew it would be a tight race. He had a .028 R/T advantage over me off the line, but my early run incremental times were slightly better. It was 10:00 pm, first time I've raced at night in over 10 years. For some stupid reason my hand didn't find the shifter properly and the handle went between my two fingers. Thought I shifted, but it didn't. Heard it hit the limiter and bumped the handle again. I felt the car lay over, saw his fender move even with mine and held on best I could. I lost with a 5.38 to his 5.34. Looking at the data logger graphs the engine was on the limiter for .34 seconds. Had I hit the shift properly it would have been an even closer race, no telling if I could have edged him, but surely would have liked to done a better job and seen how we would have fared.

Anyway, quite pleased with how well the car ran given the extreme heat we faced. Very thankful I had a 28' enclosed trailer that is insulated and has dual A/C units. Surely made surviving the heat just that much easier.

This coming Saturday the 14th we will be attending a race at Capitol Raceway with the same Ultra Street class. The new track operators are gonna do their best to give us D/R cars a tight track to race on, so hoping to have some prep so I can start leaning on the power management a little more than we have so far.